Thanksgiving in Loja

Alright so my number one fan and I think the only person reading this, my mom, asked me to talk about our Thanksgiving aka Dia de Gracias. Now, I’m sure all of you have this picture of two or three of us sitting on a dirt floor, eating pita shells wrapped in beans or rather beans wrapped in pita shells (the first would just be messy and pointless), dreaming of our lives back in the good ole US of A that were filled with Turkey and stuffing, football and watching Dad fall asleep on the couch. Well as a matter of fact we were able to cover all of these bases which even included yours truly filling the shoes of my father by falling asleep on the couch later in the night. The party turned out to be a great success with approx. 30 volunteers travelling from all over the country to meet in Loja.
Unfortunately we weren’t able to watch any football on Thanksgiving day so mid-afternoon, before the feast, we all headed to Loja’s futbol stadium and organized a little pick up game of Omnibus 99 vs. some 97ers, Bolivians (aka former Peace Corps Bolivia volunteers who were expedited due to the civil war there, now we refer to them just as Bolivians) and Omnibus 100ers.
After football we all retired to the homes of the Loja volunteers to raid their kitchens and make all of our assigned dishes for the Turkey day potluck at our friend Jason’s “Space Station” apartment. The turkey, well turkey cutlets were cooked by our own resident chef (yes I said that correctly) and we stuffed our faces with the usual mashed potatoes, veggies and stuffing while we took in the beautiful view of the Loja skyline.
After dinner, and a brief nap on my part, we enjoyed all the benefits Jason’s house was equipped with. These included a huge rooftop deck and a mini night club in which we were able to dance off our Turkey comas.
The following day we all recovered a little bit from the previous nights party by heading to the river in my site, San Pedro de Vilcabamba. Then pretty much most of the volunteers headed to the famed Hosteleria Izshkaluma for a night of relaxation and for massages they had booked the following day. That’s right, massages in the Peace Corps, I never thought I would be saying that.
That night all of the volunteers came back to my site and we had a huge Chili feast in my tiny little apartment and then we headed to a dance that was going on due to the fiestas happening in my site (there are pretty much always fiestas in either my site or one of the towns nearby).
The next morning everyone started to gear up for their long trips home, some had to spend almost 30 hrs in a bus and travel to the exact opposite end of the country.
I have to say that the long weekend was a great success and that having all my new Peace Corps friends here for my first Thanksgiving in Ecuador made for a memorable event and all being together really helped us cope with the fact we were thousands of miles away from our families and loved ones for the holiday.

Molly & Bill's Visit

As some of you may or may not know my sister Molly and her husband, Bill, came to visit me a couple of weeks back and we had a great time. Here is a little summary of our adventures!

After a long flight to Quito and then a short flight to Loja (which is worth its weight in gold by the way) Molly and Bill finally made it! Unfortunately due to flight schedules and vacation policies we only had a short period of time so we decided to cram as much into their stay as possible.

On Sunday morning they got into Loja and we took the 2 hr car ride back to my site, a ride that enabled me to point out the route of my 25 mile walk which they were very impressed with. Once we got back to my house, we walked around my site and I was able to show them all of the projects I had been working on the past couple of months and I had also arranged to have a meal sharing session with my host family where we made a typical “American” dish, aka pizza and they made the typical Ecuadorian dish, aka mountain of rice with chicken. I think Molly and Bill had a great time with my host family though, everyone was laughing and cracking jokes (mostly at my expense) and I think it was fun for all. But the fun didn’t stop there, because after our lunch I was going to be debuting my soccer talents for the people of San Pedro and Molly and Bill were going to be there to witness it! Well let’s just say that it wasn’t all that great a showing seeing as they didn’t even get a chance to watch me play. As the story goes, I had to leave lunch early and run up to the game with my host brother because it was starting and Molly, Bill and Katie (my girlfriend) all finished lunch with my host family. The sad thing was that I was able to start the game and play my heart out for about 15 minutes, but unfortunately, due to my lack of talent, I was switched out immediately after a new team member showed up. Molly and Bill then came a little bit later and thus never even got to see me play…tear…

After spending the night consoling me on my soccer inadequacies, the next day Molly, Bill and I decided to scale one of Vilcabamba’s best tourist attractions, Mount Mandango, aka the sketchiest hike ever! This Mandango trail starts out with a quick summit to the top, where there are great views of both Vilcabamba and of the mountain ranges in southern Ecuador. Then as you start to walk along the ridgeline the trail progressively gets thinner and thinner until there is one section that is so thin we were all more comfortable going down on our butts versus our feet. But, after braving these couple of parts you get to walk along the ridgelines of the mountains for a while and are surrounded by nothing but beautiful views. Our descent was filled with spider webs and fighting off crazed dogs with rock but we finally made it home ok. Once home, Molly and Bill got enjoy true campo living by each taking a cold shower and then, after meeting up with Katie again, we headed for dinner at the famed Izshkaluma Hostel nestled in the hillsides overlooking Vilcabamba.

That next morning Molly, Bill and I headed back to Loja’s airport to catch the 45 min plane trip to Quito (again worth its weight in gold vs. the 14 hr bus ride). Unfortunately we did have to brave the Ecuadorian bus system for our next leg of the journey and caught a 5 hr bus for Tena, Ecuador. I figured bouncing around in an old beat up bus that stopped every 5 minutes to pick up someone new would give them a good feel for the Ecuadorian way of life and would enable them to get a glimpse of the beautiful Ecuadorian countryside.

We arrived in Tena late in the afternoon on Tuesday and paid the $8 cab fare for the 10 minute ride to our hostel (in comparison to the $5 bus fare for a 5 hr ride). We were staying at the Cotococha resort where we definitely were living the good life! They had a fire pit, 4 course meals and these beautiful huts that came complete with hot water (yesss!!!) and oil lamps for when the sun went down. The resort was really unexpectedly nice and to top it all off they basically had our whole stay planned out for us.

Our first day, after breakfast, we did a beautiful 3 hr hike to a waterfall. Along the way our guide would stop to tell us all about the different plant and animal life as well as the history of the people in the jungle. This hike was a little strenuous and that, along with the humid jungle climate, made us welcome the idea of tubing down the Rio Napo, back to our hostel!
After lunch, we then headed out to jungle on the other side of our hostel and went for another nature hike, away from the river. About 5 minutes into our walk, our guide decided that if we were going to explore the Ecuadorian jungle that we needed to look the part. Therefore he made each of us our own authentic headdresses and even painted Molly’s face like the queen of the village! Now dressed as village people/super tourists (with our cameras and our LL Bean Cargo pants) we headed into the Jungle. Again our guide showed us the huge array of plant and insect life, explaining how they all live together in harmony. At the end of the loop we had the chance to do a Tarzan style vine swing! The whole ordeal didn’t seem to scary so I grabbed the vine, swung off the ledge and immediately found myself to be 30 feet off of the jungle floor! An experience definitely not intended for those folks who are a little scared of heights.

The next morning we all boarded a canoe and headed south down the Rio Napo to an animal sanctuary right on the river. Here we were able to see all the different kinds of monkeys, birds, turtles and other organisms that were either saved due to the threat of poachers or because of the population was impeding on their habitat. Packed full of visitors, this organization was run solely by volunteers who were very knowledgeable on all of the different animals being protected by the sanctuary.

After the animal refuge we had a little bit of free time to swim in the Rio Napo and try our hands at a rope swing on the other side of the river. After braving the swim back across the river, our hostel prepared a picnic lunch for us where we feasted on pasta salad as the bugs feasted on us!
After almost being utterly consumed by the bugs on the side of the river, we hopped back in our canoe and started the 3 hr trip back up the river. On the way back we stopped by a small indigenous village to experience a little bit of their culture. Our first presentation was learning how they made their pottery. Crafted from clay they found in the river, the women molded this pottery by hand, fired it in a makeshift kiln and then smoothed it using rocks. It was very interesting to see they techniques they used and the small pieces of pottery were beautiful. After our “pottery class” we headed over to another little hut where a woman was mashing and boiling yucca to make the famous drink “chicha.” The ingredients for this drink are primarily just fermented yucca with some water and sugar. In the past they used to make it with human spit but they finally realized that using the spit is what was making everyone in their communities sick. Anyway Bill and I sampled the chicha and it wasn’t too bad, if you like drinking paint thinner. For our third and final presentation we got to learn about and how to use blow dart tubes and I have to say that I think Molly was the only one of us who was able to hit the target. The rest of the afternoon we spent enjoying the beautiful scenery on our canoe ride back up the Rio Napo to our hostel.

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end and Molly, Bill and I had to leave Friday morning and brave the 5 hr bus back to Quito. Once there, we walked around the downtown bar and restaurant area known as the Mariscal, where Molly and Bill enjoyed one last meal of typical Ecuadorian cuisine. The next morning we woke up early and headed to the airport where I was able to see Molly and Bill off. Our entire trip was a blast and it was great to do it with two people who are very adventurous and pretty much can have a good time doing anything, I hope they come back!

Eso es La Forma

Alright so I am sure you are all wondering what I have actually been doing for the past six months and no it hasn’t been just making furniture, playing with my machete or spending two months writing and editing my next blog entry. I have actually been working!

Pretty much the day I arrived, I started working on a large coffee project with my main organization, La Fundacion Colinas Verdes (Green Hills). This group is composed of five people who are dedicated to the development of the community of San Pedro de Vilcabamba and all the surrounding areas. They are a Non-Government Organization that receives all of their funding from outside organizations and right now all of their money is coming from Belgium and Spain. Along with the coffee project that started pretty much in mid-April, right when I arrived, they are also working on projects with a local flour product named Achira, soy bean cultivation, small animal production, irrigation, and teaching the local children about natural resource conservation.

So as you can tell there is no real shortage of work for me in my site. (I am also failing to mention that I am working with a women’s group to help them market their recycled paper cards and books, blog entry to come).

Getting back to our coffee project, it consisted of two major elements:

First, we held 4 different workshops for all of the local coffee growers which pretty much started the day after I arrived in my site. The workshops covered everything from the planting, pruning, harvesting, washing and drying of the seeds, and ultimately testing the quality of their coffee. Having these sessions upon my arrival helped to advance my Spanish and to give me the basic knowledge of the local coffee cultivation.



The second part of the coffee project was to make center based facilities in San Pedro and other neighboring farming communities, giving the coffee growers access to a greenhouse for the initial phases of growing the plants and a marquesina which is a small warehouse type building that is used solely for the drying of the coffee beans. The primary objective for these facilities is to both increase the amount of coffee produced and, through the use of new techniques and the drying facility, to improve the quality of the coffee produced.

To give you an idea of the progress we have made in the past 6 months, we completed each of the 4 workshops over a span of 3 months. We have made a total of 8 marquesinas for San Pedro de Vilcabamba and her surrounding communities and we are currently about 65% of the way done with the first of three greenhouses we are making.

This first greenhouse or vivero, is located in San Pedro, and is by far going to be our largest with a total of 25,000 coffee plants. This is where I have spent a majority of my time the past three months and below is an idea of all the work we have done there.

First we had to make the beds and planted the seeds that took about 4 months to mature in order for transplantation.

Next we had to clear the land to make the beds and shade structures for the bagged, transplanted plants. The shade structures are composed of thick bamboo posts holding up a roof of smaller bamboo stalks. These give the coffee plants the 60% sun, 40% shade ratio that they need for the best growing conditions. The beds we then dug out of the soil or made walls of wood in order to support the small, soil and plant filled plastic bags.

Then comes the fun part, collecting the parts for the soil and actually bagging it. In each bag is a mix of regular dirt, organic fertilizer (either pig manure or decaying sugar cane stalks) and sand. Each part we had to track down within the community, shovel it onto a truck and then shovel it back off at the greenhouse site. (Tractors/Front-End loaders just don’t exist so it is all done by hand). Then after we have huge piles of the three components we had to mix them into the soil for the plants, this mix consisted of four parts dirt, three parts organic fertilizer and two parts sand. And after it was thoroughly mixed together we got to bag these huge mounds of dirt into small little plastic bags that were about the size of coke can. The soil filled bags are then crammed into the beds and the small coffee seedlings are transplanted where they will grow for the next three months.

I know it seems like this is a fairly easy process but let me just re-iterate that we are doing 25,000 little soil filled bags, yes 25,000. To give you an idea of the timeframe we are talking, it takes about 3 days to collect each of the components for the soil, a day to mix it all and then each person can fill about 100 to 150 bags per day. For each mound of mixed soil I would say we get about 2,000 bags and this project started with just three of us doing it all. The first time we went through the entire process of gathering, mixing and then bagging the soil I was in good spirits. But after about the third time of doing it and seeing what little progress we were making I was starting to have my concerns that this was what I was going to be doing my entire Peace Corps term. I was at the point where one day, when we were tediously filling bags of dirt, I looked up at one of my counterparts and said to him(in Spanish), “You know, my service here as a volunteer probably could be better utilized doing something other than just filling bags of dirt for two years.” He understood and then mentioned to me that he didn’t want to bag all 25,000 plants either. He then mentioned that Colinas Verdes was in fact contacting all of the communities we had been working with and over the past 3 months we were setting up community work days where 7 or 8 of the coffee growers would come and fill bags of dirt for the entire day. This has proven to be a pretty effective strategy and right now we have approximately 15,000 bags filled with the mix and the seedlings and have more work days scheduled for the upcoming month to complete our goal of 25,000.

So that gives you a good idea of the work I have been doing over the past couple of months. Most of my days I was working with a shovel in my hand just chatting it up with either my co-workers or the local members of my community. But, nowadays I have been speaking with Colinas Verdes about starting some projects of my own and they are in agreement. The first goal I had was to find some new markets for the local coffee growers to sell their products. Right now they are only selling their coffee to one exporter about 2 hrs away and this exporter is offering a decent price but not the best. My recommendation to Colinas was to help the people find new avenues to sell their product, thus giving them the opportunity to get the best price possible for their coffee.

One idea we have is to start a small business where they would toast, grind and bag their own coffee and sell it to the local tourists for approx. $5-8 per lb (right now they make about $1.20 per pound). The plan is to implement this on down the road as we need to raise the funds for the equipment.

To find a more immediate fix to their distribution issues, I am helping by contacting other distributors/coffee toasters and grinders in Ecuador for the option of selling it to them rather than selling all of our product to just one place. And I am happy to say that through the contacts of the Peace Corps, I have been able to track down a new alternative for my community where our growers can make up to $50 more per sack of coffee. In our next harvest, we hope to increase my community’s coffee net income from approx. $49,000 to $70,000. This may not seem like a huge amount of money to you folks in the States but it will have a large impact on the well-being of the people of my community.

This entire experience has shown me how easy it is to have an effect on my community, whether through manual labor or through utilizing some of my business skills. In just my short time here I have already had a lifetime of experiences and am excited to see what else I can get done here in my next year and a half.

Other projects I am planning on helping Colinas Verdes with (I am sure others will arise on down the road):
Developing and implementing a marketing plan for their Achira flour product
Getting the coffee farms organically certified
Helping to solicit money and initiate their irrigation project

Reina del Cisne Walk

Yes, yes I know I am a terrible blogger, sorry to keep you all in suspense as I know you have been checking my blog every hour on the hour to see if it has been updated.

A week back I was talking with the secretary of my organization and she mentioned that she was going to participate in this year’s “Reina del Cisne” walk. I posed some interest and she, along with the help of my counterpart convinced me to participate.

The story of the Reina del Cisne or Queen of the Swan originates with a woman who showed up one year unexpectedly to Southern Loja, which was in the midst of a serious drought, causing many of the locals to eat dog and burro to survive (giving Lojanos a bad reputation that still exists today). Apparently this unknown woman came into town and was deemed as a prophet when immediately the rains started to come and the health of the community began to improve. As the story goes the woman then mysteriously disappeared leaving no trace that she had been there or where she had gone. Fittingly the people had a small doll made in her remembrance and now they pray to that every year.

The significance of the walk is that about a hundred years ago, Ecuadorians would walk from Loja to a small religious town named Cisne (Swan) which was about 80 km away (approx 50 miles), making a pit stop about halfway in a town called Catamayo. The tradition states (or at least what I could understand in what was explained to me) that family members of sick individuals, expecting mothers (which I find it crazy a pregnant woman would do this walk), and many others with their given reasons would hike across the Ecuadorian countryside to pray to the Reina del Cisne statue for good health. Only nowadays they bring the doll from its home in Cisne through Catamayo to Loja and the followers walk with it. Each year, approximately 500,000 people come from all over the country to participate in this journey and many of the local residents join in to make the trip from Catamayo to Loja but there are still a few die hard's that do the entire 50 miles in two days.

My Experience on the “Reina del Cisne” walk:

Needless to say I decided to get in touch with my Catholic roots (I am not Catholic at all) and walk the 25 miles from Catamayo to Loja with some members of my community. Why this took only minor convincing and not much forethought on my part I have no idea, but it wasn’t until about an hour into our two hour bus ride that I realized what I had actually signed up for. I was getting ready to go a night without sleeping, walk uphill for about 7 hrs and downhill for 3, all the while accompanied by 500,000 of my best Ecuadorian friends who I could barely communicate with.

We arrived in Catamayo at 10:30 at night I was a little surprised at what I saw. First off the streets were full of people and rather than this being some kind of religious event it looked more like the county fair. There were kids walking around with their hands full of cheap stuffed animals, ice cream and cotton candy. The Ferris wheel and fireworks lit up the sky while novios (boyfriends) won cheap key chains for their novias at the pellet shooting games. Our group walked around for a while, went to the church where the statue was on display and then headed towards the highway to find a place to rest for a couple of hours. It was here that, for the first time in my life, I slept on the island of a highway with about 10,000 other people, I felt like I was camping out for a Grateful Dead concert. Anyway the fact that I was about to walk for 25 miles running on about 20 minutes of sleep was slowly starting to sink in as my eyes slowly came to rest using a rock as a pillow. Then I woke up and it was 2:45 and my group was getting ready for our 3 o’clock departure. We packed up our water and sunscreen, snapped one photo for a “before” picture and embarked on our journey up the mountain.

As we slowly scaled this mountain seemingly inch by inch, I will say that it was very cool to walk for about three hours in the early morning with only the moon’s rays to guide us. Then to see the sun coming up over the mountains made the first part of the journey pretty spectacular. As we progressed we started to see more and more people on the side of the road taking breaks for a cat nap. It was pretty amusing to see how the people would curl up in the gutter, snuggling with their loved ones as if they were at home in their nice warm bed.

We continued walking through the morning stopping at one of the many street vendors along the way for a typical Ecuadorian breakfast, chicken and rice. And after about 5 more hours of walking uphill we finally came to the crest of the mountain where it had seemed the county fair from Catamayo had moved. There were dozens of small restaurant operations set up to serve the thousands of people as well as street vendors selling everything from cotton candy to visors and coats for your dog (cause what better place to buy clothes for your dog???).

At about 2’oclock in the afternoon we slowly made our way into Loja only to find another fair going on with music, games and churches preparing for the arrival of the Reina that was about 3 hours behind us. As you might imagine we were not too excited about partaking in the festivities and just wanted to catch the first bus back to our small little town for some well earned rest. I think I was asleep before I sat down in the bus for our hour long bus ride home and don’t think I really fully woke up when I got off the bus and dragged myself the 300 yards to my house and into my bed, where I slept the entire night.

The next day…

The following morning was an event that will only happen once in my life, my 30th birthday. As I lay there in my bed getting motivated to head to work I couldn’t help but reflect on my past 30 years, how I was getting older and the depressing fact that most of my peers in the Peace Corps were between the ages of 22-26. But when I finally did persuade myself to rise from my comfortable bed, my body would not function. My legs felt like two stiff 2x4’s, my hips would only rotate about 10% of their normal distance and my feet were sore with blisters. So not only was my demeanor a little depressed because my 30th birthday had finally arrived but my body was also fulfilling its role in reminding me that I was turning into an old man.

So, in conclusion, the moral of this story is that when you are coming up on an event or birthday that is a milestone for you getting older, do yourself a favor and take it easy the day before so at least your body won’t reinforce that fact!

Finally, I´ve been Published!!!!!

Yeah right.

So when you are in the Peace Corps you have the option of joining one of a couple of different groups, VAC, GAD, or TIPS to name a few. Most are acronyms that I have no idea what they stand for (by the way the Peace Corps doesn´t believe is using common english, everything MUST be in the form of an acronym). There was a group that did stand out to me though, and not because it wasn´t an acronym, but because it was the only group that looked like fun and that was ¨El Clima,¨our quarterly newsletter.

The bad news is that after I got on the committee and went to Quito for my first issue we learned 2 things. One, our CD(another acronym that stands for Country Director, aka The Big Boss) got reamed by his boss because our newsletter needed to be more ¨professional.¨ Which is a definite bummer considering the previous issues contained very professional topics ranging from the worst diarhea stories to roasting the incoming and outgoing volunteers. ¨El Clima: was definitely a fun read that the volunteers looked forward to.

The other bit of bad news was that due to budget cut backs, ¨El Clima¨was probably either going to be cut back to being issued twice a year or cut altogether.

So I figured I would put two of my articles on my blog so they would get national recognition. Who knows maybe someone from The Washington Post or The New York Times is keeping track of me, I will be discovered and become the next Hemingway. (Or maybe just my Mom will add another comment about how talented I am. Thanks Momma, keep´em coming!)

Anyway, here you go! (Oh and Almuerzo means lunch)

Volunteer Interest

The Almuerzo Calculator
Andy Hood, 99

I am a newer volunteer and am still getting used to living off of my monthly allowance. This still poses somewhat of a challenge but I am working on it. But what I have discovered, as I am sure most of you have, is the beauty of the cheap almuerzo. What better deal is there that you can get soup, a decent meal of chicken (insert other random meat here) and a drink, all for about $1.50. Can’t beat it!

Now, as time is progressing and I grow more accustomed to life here in Ecuador I am consistently finding myself comparing the price of just about anything against the price of an almuerzo. It literally has turned into the second form of currency I use, just behind the almighty US dollar. How many times have you been in the store and said to yourself, “….that is like 5 almuerzo’s” or “Why would I buy this bag of cheese doodles for $3.20 when I can get an entire almuerzo for $1.50.” Keeping this in mind, I contacted the mathematics departments at both Princeton and Harvard and they helped me come up with the following equation to help you, my fellow volunteers, utilize the almuerzo currency tambien. (Also if your almuerzo price is mas o menos than $1.50 go ahead and insert your own amount in there).

# of Almuerzos = x/1.5

X= the dollar amount you are comparing to see the number of almuerzo’s this adds up to.

In order to make this more relevant, below are some examples of what things cost in almuerzo’s:

ITEM Price in Almuerzo’s (almz)

An apple 0.2 almz
Meat on a stick 0.33333333333333333 almz
Pilsener Grande 0.66666666666666666 almz
The new Indiana Jones Movie, Ecuadorian Price 1 almz
Big Mac meal at McDonalds 3 almz
Bus ride from Loja to Quito 11.3 almz
Category B Peace Corps Living Allowance 153 almz
Sony 37” flat screen television 354 almz
#1 selling vehicle in the US, the Ford F-150 16,000 almz
Average annual income in the US 32,134 almz
Highest Paid Professional Athletes:
NFL: Dwight Freeney 20,500,000 almz
NBA: Shaquille O’Neal 23,333,333 almz
MLB: Derek Jeter 19,333,333 almz
GDP of Ecuador 29,456,000 almz
Total Expenditure up to this point for the War in IRAQ 2,000,000,000 almz
US Deficit 108,000,000,000 almz

I was having a hard time with the photos in these articles but the caption on this pic is supposed to read: ¨Alright Honey, so do you want the Chicken, the Chicken or the Chicken?



My Promise to the Readers of El Clima
Andy Hood, 99

The moon was full and the rain was just starting to fall as I was washing my last dish from the beautiful four-course dinner I had just prepared for myself that night (peanut butter and jelly sandwich). I had been in my site for all of about two weeks and had had a long hard day of fulfilling my role as the deaf, mute gringo, whose main talent is lifting heavy objects, feeling very similar to Lenny from Of Mice and Men. It was then that the thought occurred to me that I would engage in one of my favorite Peace Corps pastimes, Sudoku. I recently had done the impossible and completed the Sudoku book that I had brought from home, even finishing the appropriately named “diabolical” or “fiendish” puzzles. So I opened an older issue of El Clima that had been gifted to me by our ravishing good looking and intelligent new Editor-in-Chief, Jeanette Warner.

I began my Sudoku ritual, just as I always do, by first grabbing a bottle of my finest wine out of my wine cellar (Clos from my kitchen shelf), lit a fire in the fireplace (burned a candle in an old tuna can), and curled up on my chaise lounge with matching ottoman (plastic lawn chair with a cardboard box) to see what kind of Sudoku challenge El Clima could present me with.

That night, just as I had done a thousand times before, I went about the usual strategy that I, unlike others, find to be effective. You know, finding the easy numbers first then employing the long, drawn out process of utilizing a calculator, an abacus, long division and the Pythagorean Theorem to methodically discover each additional number. So here I was, concentrating heavily on my new Sudoku puzzle, ignoring the moths flying around my head and the dogs that seem to be barking at the roosters who in turn seem to be cock-a-doodle dooing right back at them in some sort of vicious cycle that they agreed upon to make sure the gringo only sleeps about 3 hours a night. Anyway, I had been working on this puzzle for about 20 minutes and was deep in a trance of concentration when I realized the unthinkable and unforgivable. Somehow of the millions of Sudoku puzzles that are in the world, our staff at El Clima included what we like to call in the industry, a “tainted” puzzle. That’s right, in puzzle number 2, column #3 of the Winter 2008 issue of El Clima there are two 9’s, yep that’s right, two. After taking a couple of minutes to get through the initial shock of my discovery, I immediately contacted my local authorities and sent both a handwritten, notarized letter and an e-mail to the International Committee for the Security, Administration, and Collaboration of Sudoku Puzzles, more commonly known as ICSACSP, to alert them of the situation. I still have yet to hear from them but continue to check my casilla twice a day for their response.

Many of you readers may be wondering why I titled this article “My Promise to the Readers of El Clima” and then telling this story of one of my first and probably most unforgettable nights in my site. Well, being a new member of the El Clima staff, I felt it was my duty to inform you that such a mix up like this will never happen again while I am onboard as a part of El Clima. Now I may not have the most well-written, most thought-provoking articles in this publication (for example this) but I guarantee that I will personally (or with the help of other smarter people than yours truly) go through each and every Sudoku puzzle in our new and upcoming issues in order to prevent such a catastrophe as the one that happened in the Winter of 2008. I feel it is our duty as Peace Corps Volunteers to spread peace by digging ditches and putting condoms on cucumbers instead of sitting at home toiling over Sudoku puzzles that are in fact “broken.” That my friends is my promise to you, the readers of El Clima.

Unfortunately I couldn´t get the pic to come over for this one but just imagine a sudoku puzzle filled with nothing but 9´s. Then the caption read that it took me an hour of working it before I figured out it was ¨tainted.¨

A little perspective....

An interesting thing happened in my house the other day which I thought might be a good experience to share with all you folks in the good ole U.S. of A. Something to give you a little perspective as to the difference in the lifestyle down here versus what we are used to in the US.

My host mother is a seamstress and the other day she was ironing something that she had been working on, when by accident she dropped the iron on the floor. When she picked it back up and tried to use it again the outside of the iron got extremely hot and to the point she wasn´t able to use it anymore. They tried and tried to take it apart but unfortunately the only real way to get it apart was to break the plastic molding because it was all held together by one screw that was designed only to be tightened and you couldn´t take it out with a standard screwdriver. They came and talked to me to see if I maybe had this special screw driver and unfortunately I couldn´t help them as I had never seen a screw like this. We all then sat down on the bench in front of my house and the mother was practically in tears because the family could not afford the $15 or so to get a new one. This whole situation was very eye opening to me in the fact that even the smallest, simplest thing in their lives, like breaking the iron, can have a huge impact on their well being.

The good news is that I actually had a friend in the PC who had an old iron which she didn´t use. You could say that the family was very appreciative when we gave it to them.

So the next time you are in Lowes or Target, picking up all those seemingly meaningless items that may have little or no relevance to you, think of this story and how in many other places in the world people have to save for months, sometimes years to purchase something similar.

My Machete and Me

Quoting #19 on the “Twenty Things to Remember During your Time in The Peace Corps” list, “Buy a Machete. You may need one, you may not. But trust me, you will probably never again have the chance to semi-legitimately own one in your life.”

I decided to take their advice and fork over the whopping $5 and get myself one. I mean if I can live in a place where is it accepted, almost customary, to walk around town with a giant knife hanging from my belt then I figure I better take advantage of it (and yes mother, I have a cover for it so I won’t cut my foot off). Plus you never realize how many times I get to use the Crocodile Dundee signature line of “That’s not a knife, THIS is a knife,” I mentioned it the other day when buttering a piece of bread with my host mother. Didn’t really translate too well and she pretty much thought I was crazy when I said it but it amused me and that’s all that really matters. The cool thing is that I have also found ways to incorporate the Machete into my daily life, shaving with it (Croc Dundee Style!!!) and cooking with it….

Also some of you have been asking to see what my living situation looks like, here are some pics. Check out the excellent craftsmanship of that furniture! My little apartment is really great, the only real downside is that my family’s dog is chained up about 5 ft from my door and keeps me up half the night. I decided to leave the pictures of my bathroom out cause I need to clean it. Is it weird when you have to use a broom to clean your shower? Only in Ecuador…

Little Man......Big Chainsaw

If he was a Native American, that would be his name. I would like to introduce you all to my new friend, Jaime aka Chavez (Why Chavez I have no idea, it isn´t his last name, but he asked me to call him that which he only asks his friends to do so I guess we are now BFF´s). My new friend and I have been busy the last couple of weeks working with my organization, Colinas Verdes, making Coffee Drying buildings.

Just to give you an idea of how good you have it with Home Depot. In order to make one of these secadora´s (coffee drying building), we have to hike into the woods about 3 miles, cut down the trees, and then Chavez uses his giant chainsaw (now nicknamed ¨Hijo de Puta¨after a day of working and joking around, I will let you figure out the translation) to cut this tree up into usable planks for the buildings. We then have to carry the planks down the mountain to the road, load them on to a small box truck, which has to drive across the sketchiest (sp?) bridge ever (totally wish I got a picture of this, the bridge was totally bending under this truck) and then they are taken to the worksite. Anyway, you all should be kissing the floor of Home Depot the next time you go there cause you have no idea how good and easy it is to have it.

I took this pic after Chavez helped me cut up some wood for my furniture (saved me about 3 hrs of labor and cursing with a handsaw). He is actually pretty amazing with this big saw, he can work all day just manhandling this giant piece of equipment like it was nothing. I have also seen him scale a mountian holding it on his back and tip toe across the rafters of one of these buildings we are making, effortlessly.

Oh and by the way, the same day that we gave his saw the nickname, Chavez gave me the nickname of ¨gordita.¨ Which basically means ¨little fat woman¨.......sweet.

Are we really getting paid for this?...Part Dos

Alright I think I have left you all in suspense long enough, actually I just really wanted to do this hike to take some pics that would do my site proper justice and finally I was able to do it the other day. Plus I am sure all of you are grossed out by the picture of rotten cuyes.

Well, I have been in my site for almost three weeks now and the truth of the matter is that I cannot believe I get to live here for the next two years. My site is called San Pedro de Vilcabamba which is about a mile away from the tourism town of Vilcabamba, a place nationally known for its tranquility and beauty. The population of my site is about 1500 and about 4000 in Vilcabamba, but every day there are hundreds of tourists coming in and out of town to enjoy the rest and relaxation this place offers. I have yet to indulge in world class massages and facials but from what I hear they are first rate. ($18 for 75 minutes of massage, not a bad deal). It is located about an hour away from the city of Loja so I truly have the best of worlds, a small, quiet little town to live in and a large city to get a taste of “faster” living.

As for work, I am currently in touch with three groups that are going to provide me with more than enough things to occupy my time for the next two years. The primary one is Colinas Verdes and is an organization that is dedicated to the development of the community both on an economic and social level. The second group is the community bank which is basically an organization set up to give the local population a financial option that keeps their money local and helps with the town’s economic situation as well with their personal development. Last but not least is the Association of the 23 of June (I know it is a weird name but they absolutely love naming companies down here after certain significant dates), this is a women’s association that makes recycled paper products. Their products are very cool and I think they have the most potential for me being able to help them! (More to come on this, there products are amazing and I guarantee all of you women out there will love their stationery and other goodies).

As you may have guessed I am super siked to be placed here and every day I wake up and walk outside to enjoy the view of this beautiful valley. I am currently renting a small apartment from a great, supportive family and imagine that I will be passing my entire 2 yrs in the apartment attached to their house. I am slowly getting it in order, but I am finding that things like refrigerators and furniture are somewhat similar priced to the States, so I have decided to try to make some of my own furniture. My first piece was a bedside table that is so off level that it drastically rocks back and forth when you set something on top of it. I blame it on the fact that the cement floor is off-level, it would never be through fault of my expert design.

I feel as though I am truly blessed for getting such a great place to live. When talking with other volunteers I try hard not to brag about where I am living but it is hard when you live in such a miraculous place. If you are family or friends reading this you now have even more reason to visit me and if you are a parent of another PC Volunteer reading this you definitely need to put this place on your “Must See” list when coming to visit, you will not be disappointed!!!

BUEN PROVECHO!!!!

I would like to dedicate this blog entry to all those readers out there (I know it is just you Mom & Dad) who had Guinea Pigs for pets as a child because.... they were delicious!!! (Bridget this means you).

For my going away dinner my family in Tabacundo decided to give me a true Ecuadorian feast! I have to say the meat was good but very rich and in the future I think I would only want a half of Cuy (preferably the bottom half so I didn´t have the head looking at me while I ate the rest of its body). Anyway this was an amazing gesture on my family´s part, especially since it probably cost them about $40-50 dollars which is pretty expensive here, and made the goodbye even harder.

On another note after these pictures were taken, some friends and I headed off to a birthday party. Needless to say we drank a little bit at the party and it was kind of a rough morning (Chu Chaki is the saying for hung over here). So you could imagine my delight when I was trying to enjoy (and when I say enjoy I mean force down) my usual tea with ham and eggs breakfeast when my Tabacundo father sat down next to me with just a plate of Guinea Pig heads and some potatoes. I swear all their faces were pointed in my direction and the smell alone almost made me lose it!

All in all the meal was a great experience and I can only foresee more Cuy (Guinea Pig) in my future.

Are we really getting paid for this?.....

Hey everyone,
Unfortunately I have been a little under the weather this week so it has taken a while for me to get around to my blog. In truth I think my body is still recuperating from all the bug bites I received in the coastal area and from the extreme temperature change we endured going from Ecuador’s coastal area (beach and rainforest) to the sierra (mountains). Anyway I have healed enough now to finally spend some time at the computer.

Our first week we spent in a town that is about 2 hours to the Northwest of Quito, called Puerto Quito. Our jaws immediately dropped once we saw the place we were staying , picture a really nice summer camp with a pool, soccer fields, basketball and volleyball courts, a beautiful river running right by it, men’s and women’s bunk houses, separate buildings with classrooms and multiple trails to take nature hikes. Oh and last but not least they hired a Chef to serve us almost every meal of the day, so let’s just say that we were really roughing it.
As much as it does sound like a vacation we actually did have to go to class during the day and learn about agriculture and other meeting facilitation type topics. The Monday we were there was definitely an eye opening experience, for the first time in my life I got to catch, kill and gut a chicken. (See the attached picture of my friend Chris and I, that is our chicken, we treated it as if it was our child and its name was Cheech the Chicken).

We were in a small tourism town called Mindo where a volunteer has been working with an organization to develop their small animal facility. Right now he has worked with them to build a number of buildings for their chickens, another facility for their cuyes (guinea pigs) and he also helped them build a fish pool for a kind of fish they sell in the markets here called Tilapia. All in all it was really cool to see that, with a little bit of hard work and know how; one person could really make a difference in the lives of the people here.

The next two days of Puerto Quito we spent in some Peace Corps technical training nothing too exciting here, but then we headed to an integrated farm where we learned all about land conservation, land terracing, and organic fertilizers, definitely very interesting. After our Puerto Quito adventure, our class split up in 5 different groups. Everyone going to a different part of the country that represented where we were going to be living for the next two years, I went along with the Agriculture Sierra group and on our first day we made the 6 hour trip to a small city south of Quito, called Riobamba. This town is where the famous tourist train leaves from in which you can enjoy the mountains and scenic views of Ecuador by sitting on top of the train. We heard rumors though that they stopped this because of a Chinese tourist getting decapitated last year. Anyone want to go?!!! Anyway, Riobamba is a very safe feeling, clean city in which we were able to see some of the local sites and visit their museums. The next two days we went into the country where one of our teachers is actually from and learned how he has been working with a German organization on developing land conservation techniques and other small animal production, very interesting. On Thursday, we headed off to a small town in the mountains called Salinas. Approximately 1000 people live here and they are nationally known for their success in the small business arena, having about 80 small businesses altogether. They have everything you can possibly think of, sausages, cheese, wool clothing, compost, mushrooms, salt mines, chocolate, soy products, paper, let alone a booming tourism industry (well booming for a small town in Ecuador). I really enjoyed this town because it was here where things were made a little more relative for me since I am going to be working more with small businesses in Vilcabamba, than in agriculture.

As you can imagine we were all exhausted (and some sick) when we got home from this fun/information packed two weeks. I still cannot believe we have been here for only 2 months, I feel like I have already had a lifetime of experiences just in this short amount time. Both trips were great because they brought our group together and I was able to get to know some people who I wouldn’t have gotten to know otherwise. All in all, I feel truly honored to be a member of Omnibus 99 and in turn I am also dreading even more the inevitable day that is coming in the next two weeks where we are ALL going our separate ways in different parts of this foreign country to experience the culture shock of living in a new community all over again. Oh well I guess that’s why they said it wasn’t going to be all swimming pools and chefs in the Peace Corps pamphlet I got over two years ago…

Dear Mrs. B.....

I just thought I would let you know that your daughter is really acclimating well to the culture down here by drinking cold budweisers and watching the Simpsons.
Actually we took this picture as a joke in your honor because she thought you would enjoy it. In all honesty we were unwinding from a long day of digging holes in a field on the side of a mountain. Oh and for all of you out there that say all you do in the Peace Corps is dig ditches everyday, you are WRONG! We only do it every other day...

It was a blast hanging with your daughter on our tech trip and I am sure she is going to make a great volunteer. And as for all those other people reading this, keep those comments coming and you may just get a tailor made blog entry in your honor too!

New Pics

Whats up everyone, not too much happening down here. I am getting ready to go on a tech trip to learn more (or at least something) about agriculture for the next two weeks. Should be pretty fun but I am not sure I will have too much access to the internet.

The other day we went on a 9 mile hiking trip the other day around a lagoon, aka a lake on top of an active volcano. (Don´t worry Mom there was only a little bit of lava spilling out onto the trail). Anyway it was beautiful and here are some pics.

Vilcabamba!!!!!!

Dear Family, Friends, Parents of other PCT's and other random people who I have no idea who you are;



Well the Peace Corps has finally done it, they have matched me with a place that is right up my alley, somewhere that is nationally known for its facials and massages. I asked a couple of our teachers and volunteers about the city and they have all said that it is beautiful and many are planning to come and visit me once I get settled. So I think I can take that as a pretty safe bet that it is an awesome place.



The population is approx 4000 people and the town of Vilcabamba is known for it's "Fountain of Youth" and apparently there are a number of residents who are 100 yrs old or older (some are 120 yrs old). The local rivers are said to have some kind of magical powers for longevity and health. "So I got that going for me, which is nice." I read up on the city some and there are a ton of hikes very close to the city and a number of horseback riding outfits that offer everything from an afternoon ride to a 3 day excursion. (Don't get any ideas Molly). As for my job, I will be working with one of the local coffee companies down here to help them penetrate new markets, there is also a newly started recycled paper company and a community bank that are looking to develop further. These jobs are just what I asked for and I am definitely looking forward to working in these areas.



Next week we were supposed to go on our site visit but due to all of the recent rain causing landslides on the highways the trips have all been cancelled which is a bummer. But I figure I will get there soon enough.



And for all of those people who had Guinea Pigs growing up, we went to our first Cuy (guinea pig) class the other day. They taught us how to castrate the cuyes (which all the guys in our class enjoyed) and then they showed us how to kill them. Let's just say that it is like squashing a tomatoe on a table that is full of bones. I swear the sound that it made will haunt me for years to come.



On that note, I need to go and eat dinner. Things are great down here and I am super siked about my site. So excited in fact that I have already started to prepare, below is a picture of me getting ready.

2 more additional items

I was thinking last night that I forgot to add two other items to the list:

-Always throw your tp in the trash can

-If someone has change for a $20 they are probably a thief (Got that little bit of advice when we got off the plane and on the bus....nice...)


As for the Yapa, you all are just going to have to come down here and find out for yourself...

Yes I am still alive!!!!

Hello everyone, sorry it has taken me so long to update this, as you might have guessed I have been super busy. I definitely have been enjoying the emails from all of you asking where my updates have been, it is good to know I have so many people checking up on me and interested in what I am up to.

These past couple of weeks have been packed with Spanish lessons, Agricultural classes, field trips, as well as all of the other Peace Corps training segments about safety and other administrative stuff. I am going to try to answer all of your questions but if I miss one don’t hesitate to ask me in the comments.

Right now my number one priority is learning Spanish and this is definitely coming along at a slow and steady pace, just like they told me it would. The other day I coined the term to classify my Spanish as “Yoda Spanish,” named after the Star Wars character. The reason I have named it this is because when I talk to people I know I am saying things like “Eating, I like” , “To go, I will do,” or “Dancing, I will go.” It is probably not that extreme but I guarantee it is very broken but they still seem to be able to understand and answer me which is the ultimate goal.

People have been asking me what the food has been like down here. Let’s just say that it has been very interesting and they eat many things for breakfeast that we probably would not. For example, the other morning I had sliced hot dogs and French fries for breakfeast. I usually have some kind of egg with ham and bread with cheese for breakfeast. This morning I was served the usual but I also got a little surprise which was a cup of liquidified Jello. For lunch we usually go to the restaurant across the street from our school which is made up of a soup (today's had cow skin in it...mmmm), main course plate (usually rice and chicken), and some kind of juice all for about $2.50 which is actually pretty expensive down here. In fact my Mom down here told me that we need to stop going there because the “Gringos” are raising the prices for the locals. For dinner we usually have some kind of meat (usually chicken) with rice. If you haven’t noticed, there is a definite theme of rice being served with every meal, so if you are planning on visiting and going on a low-carb diet down here, Latin America may not be the best choice.

In regards to my family, things are going very well. After dinner every night we usually sit and talk for at least a half an hour about everything from world politics to where I should get my haircut. They are very patient with my Spanish and are helping me a ton each and every night. It has actually gotten to the point where some days if I am frustrated with class or my Spanish they are a great help to lift my spirits. Some of you wanted to see pictures of my house and of the family so here you go!

The Agricultural class that we have all been a part of has been very interesting. Over the past couple of weeks we have been to a couple of organic farms. Each of them is operated under a specific set of rules that states that they are only to use solely organic material in the cultivation of their crops. One farm even went as far as to say that nothing could be killed on the grounds, anything from a crow in the tree to the worms eating the lettuce. They stood by the belief that they were maintaining a complete ecosystem where each organism served a purpose and the crops would be protected by this premis. And sure enough they were, it took about 10 years to accomplish, but this farm was completely self-sustained and EVERY crop was very healthy and produced an abundant amount of produce. (And for all my frat brothers reading this, yes I am slowly becoming the hippee that all of you accuse me of being).

Some have asked me about the culture down here and I jotted down some points to help distinguish how we live in the US from how they live down here:

- We had a field trip where we went to a poor, small town and were supposed to walk around and gather information about the town. Almost immediately after getting off of the bus we were approached by a little old woman who welcomed us and invited the six of us into her home solely to “conversate.” This didn’t just happen in one case but there have already been numerous times where we have been invited into people’s homes just because they enjoy the company of strangers. Something that I think would be unheard of in the US.

- Whether they are young adults or older, the people here love to dance. Many in the US take a lot of coercing to get out on the dance floor. These people down here love it and would not miss a chance to cut it up.

- The children are not expected to work until they are done with their schooling.

- The houses are made of 99% concrete and very few have any kind of heat.

- Sandwiches don’t exist here. (neither does ice)

- The children all enjoy coffee with about 4 tablespoons of sugar in the morning.

- Restaurants on the main street of town are rarely open for lunch.

- There are pretty much no rules or regulations on the highways for passing. (very scary, I choose to sleep).

- Rather than use the turn signal they use the horn

- The yogurt here is made fresh every day and is excellent!

- When drinking a beer with the locals, you buy one beer and have one glass and all share the same beer/glass.

- Don’t ask questions about the mystery meat on your plate, just enjoy it. (or try to).

- The children never complain, always share and always take care of one another.

- It is ok for your child to climb on the roof of your house.

- Never leave your cookies out for your drunken grandma to bury in the cemetery.

- A motorcycle is considered a good mode of transportation for a family of 4.

- A pickup truck is considered a good mode of transportation for a family of 8.

- When in the market, always ask for the “Yapa,” who knows what you will get…

- Be careful of every dog in the street and never stare one down.


That is about it for now, I am sure there will plenty more of these to come on down the road. Please drop me a comment if you want, it is great to hear from everyone!!!!!!!!